Home hospital unit for poliomyelitis victims and invalids



Apl'll 1, 1952 L. H. LYNCH 2,591,082

HOME HOSPITAL UNIT FOR POLIOMYELITIS' VICTIMS AND INVALIDS Filed May 19, 1950 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 23 FZELZ INVENTOR 0129 -H. ZYNCH ATTORNEY Aprll 1, 1952 L. H. LYNCH 2,591,082

HOME HOSPITAL UNIT FOR POLIOMYELITIS VICTIMS AND INVALIDS Filed May 19, 1950 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 INVENTOR 102A H. L YIVCH FIG 4 BY ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 1, 1952 HOME HOSPITAL UNIT FOR POLIOMYELITIS VICTIMS AND INVALIDS Lora, H. Lynch, Chicago, Ill.

Application May 19, 1950, Serial No. 163,000

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in facilities for the care of invalids, particularly the victims of poliomyelitis or other crippling diseases, and has as its primary object the provision of what is basically an improved form of bed but which is so constructed and arranged as to be extremely versatile in use and operation to take care of most all the needs of such invalids, with a minimum of effort upon the part of the nurse. I, therefore, call the invention a home unit, since it serves in fact as a home for the in valid.

The bathing and other proper care of such invalids is indeed hard work, since they are in most cases completely helpless, and this is complicated by the fact that periodic exercise and therapeutic baths are required for their treatment. My invention has as a further important object the provision of a bed to which the patient may be transferred from the usual hospital bed r without lifting and which may then be readily adapted to serve the patient as a walker for exercise, or converted to one or more seats with a swinging foot rest for exercising the lower limbs particularly, and with a table for work or play while comfortably seated. Additionally, an important object is to provide a unit of this kind by the use of which the patient may be transferred from the bed to a comfortable tub, then rolled to the nearest water facilities, and bathed n all without lifting the patient.

A further object of my invention is to provide a unit of this character which may be used as a play pen for children, which may be provided with a top cover to serve as a cart or table, and

which may also be arranged with various types of exercise bars or swings, whether for the treatment of invalids or the entertainment of children.

Still another object is to provide a bed and treatment unit for invalids which may be readily adapted to use as a wheel chair by the removal and storage away of certain parts of the structure.

These andother objects of my invention will r be made apparent in the course of the following specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bed unit according to my invention, showing the spring and mattress thereof elevated so that a patient may be moved on or off the usual hospital bed without lifting.

Figure 2 is another side elevation, but showing the center section of the spring and mattress removed so that the remaining end sections serve as seats, the head of the bed being inclined for greatest seated comfort and a swinging foot rest and a table being shown in position for use by the patient, or patients, since two may be seated in the-bed thus arranged.

Figure 3 is another side elevation, in this case showing a collapsible tub in position for bathing a patient.

Figure 4. is an end view of the bed as in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the unit ascenverted to use as a wheel chair.

Referring now more particularly and by reference characters to the drawing, the unit or facility constituting my invention will first be described in its application as a bed, as: shown in Figure 1. The bed comprises a frame, preferably made up of a combination of tubular members and plastic slats, and the frame has four upright legs, two designated at I at the head of the bed and two shown at i I at the foot. These head and foot frames are carried by rubber tired wheels [2 journaled at the lower ends of the legs and provided, at least at the foot of the bed, with a conventional brake l3 operated by a foot pedal I 4 so that while the bed may be rolled about freely from place to place, it may also be locked against movement at any time. Two or more of the wheels 12 may be caster mounted for maneuverability.

The head and foot frames are connected at each side by upper and lower rails l5 and I6, and these are in turn connected by uprights I1 and I8 and by suitably spaced slats indicated throughout at [9. The legs 10 and II are, of course, cross connected by cross rails, joined by vertical slats, and for the head frame these rails and. slats appear at and 2| respectively in Figure 4. The frame thus formed is rectangular and box-like, well adapted to receive the usual flat spring unit indicated generally at 22, and a foam rubber or other suitable mattress designated at 23, thus to serve its function as a bed for the patient.

Provision is made for raising the spring unit and mattress from this normal position, at about the level of the rails IE, to the top of the bed frame as illustrated in Figure 1, and for this purpose any suitable raising and lowering, or regulating, mechanism may be employed, its precise details being immaterial to the broader aspects of my invention. As an example only I have somewhat diagrammatically illustrated a mechanism operated by a crank 24 at the foot of the bed to rotate gears 25 meshing with vertical racks 26 depending from the corners of the spring unit in suitable guiding relation with the adjacent legs ll I. Such gears are operated from the crank 24 through the intermediary of a worm and gear 21 so as to be self-locking at any height of the bed. The head and foot elevating mechanisms may be connected for operation simultaneously by a cable or chain indicated at 28.

However operated, this elevation of the spring unit 21 and mattress 23 permits them to be levelled with the usual hospital bed (not shown), so that a patient may be transferred from either to the other without any lifting whatever. The strain on the nurses taking care of polio patients and other invalids is thus greatly reduced.

Referring now to Figure 2, the versatile adaptation of the unit to the exercise and other care of the patients will now be described. The spring unit 22 has a removable center section 22a, the junction lines of which to the head and foot portions are shown at 22b. For joining the spring sections, dowel pins 220 form a convenient fastening. The mattress 23 also is in three sections, having a removable center section 23a, a head section 23?) and foot section 230. The center sections 22a and 23a may be removed entirely from the bed, thus making seats of the head and foot sections 23b and 230 of the mattress, and the patients lower limbs may hang through the center opening thus formed. A swinging foot rest 23 is then pivoted at its corners at 30 to links 3! and their upper ends are pivotally hooked in apertures 32 formed for this purpose in the lower rails 16. The patient seated on either the head or foot mattress section may then rest his feet upon this foot rest and by swinging same very beneficial exercise of the lower limbs may be had, this being of particular help to the polio victim in most cases. The bed so arranged is adapted to seat two persons, if desired.

Patients thus seated are served by a table 33 suspended by links 34 from cross rods 35 placed in notches 36 provided for this purpose in the upper rails [5. Thus the patient, or patients, may play cards, write, or do the handicraft work so often prescribed. These notches 36 also may support cross bars, such as 35, by which a patient lying in the bed may exercise the arms and lift the body.

The upper sections lfla of the legs I!) are hinged at 31 and have at their upper ends tie rods 38 pivoted at 39 and telescoped into the adjacent ends of the upper rails 15. Normally these upper sections Illa stand straight as seen in Figure l, but when the bed is set up to seat the patient, as in Figure 2, keys 40 are removed, the upper sections Illa swung out and the keys reinserted into the tie rods 38 and rails to hold the head of the bed in a reclining position for greatest comfort. The rails and tie rods are, of course, suitably apertured to receive the keys 4!! (one at each side) for this purpose.

A further obvious modification of the invention not specifically illustrated in the drawing, is the application of a rectangular table top of plastic, canvas or the like, the full size of the bed frame to rest on the top thereof. Thus the bed, when not occupied, may be used as a roll-around table or cart of great utility, particularly in a hospital.

One of the greatest problems with the helpless invalid is the periodic bathing, and this is especially true of the poliomyelitis victim where to the uprights l1 and have auxiliary rubber tired invention solves this problem with comfort to the patient and a release to the nurse from the great labor now involved in such work. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, I provide a rectangular tube 4| of rubberized fabric, plastic or other flexible watertight material, shaping same rectangularly to fit into the bed frame and having the sides 42 rolled at upper margins 43 around tubular support bars 44 adapted to rest upon the ends of the frame. The bottom 45 of this tub slopes toward the foot end where it is provided with a drain 46. In practice, the tub may be laid out flat upon the mattress 23 when the same is raised to the position shown in Figure 1, the patient moved over from his hospital bed'onto the tub, and then the mattress may be gradually lowered, allowing the tub to unfold downwardly to its working shape, with the patient comfortably resting therein. The entire bed may now be rolled away to the nearest water facilities and the patient bathed without difficulty and with a minimum of work. If desired, the mattress may remain in supporting contact with the bottom of the tub for the greatest comfort of the patient. When not in use, the collapsible tub may be rolled up on the bars 44 and conveniently stored away, or these bars may be removed and the tub folded and placed beneath the mattress.

The spring unit 22 and mattress 23 are also removable, either in sections or completely, so that the bed may be used as a walker. Ample support will be provided for the patient while he walks to strengthen disease ravaged muscles. The slatted formation of the bed frame also makes it particularly adaptable for use as a play pen for small children, the spring unit and mattress being removed if desired and a padded bottom board (not shown) substituted.

The upper and lower rails I5 and I6 at each side are separable at 47 near the uprights i1 and are normally joined by dowels 48. Thus the bed frame may be separated at these points for use of the head section, as seen in Figure 5, as a wheel chair. Short legs 49 are attached by dowels 5!! wheels 5| so that this frame section will be stable but may be rolled about as required. For such use, the mattress section 231) serves as a seat, while the center mattress section 23a may be used as a back rest.

Thus it will be seen that my invention solves many of the problems incident to the care of invalids of all kinds, in the hospital or home, and particularly takes care of the victims of poliomyelitis who require frequent bathing, exercise and the like.

While I have herein set forth for example certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself thereto and that structural changes may be made within the spirit of my invention and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A home hospital unit of the character described for poliomyelitis and other patients, comprising a wheel supported rectangular bed frame, a spring unit and superimposed mattress in said frame, both the spring unit and mattress having separate end sections and center sections and the latter being removable to provide leg room for a patient seated on one of the end sections of the mattress, the said frame having end sections, and at least one of said frame end sections including frequent therapeutic baths are specifiedy a hinged upper portion and means for inclining 5 and supporting the same so that a patient seated Number at that end of the frame may rest in a reclining 559,974 position. 845,117 LORA H. LYNCH. 949,655 5 1,054,416 REFERENCES CITED 1,840,170 The following references are of record in the 2,504,324 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Number Name Date 14,790 60,684 Burr Jan. 1, 1867 38 ,163 68,892 Massey Sept. 17, 1867 2,889

Name Date Gorh'a-m May 12, 1896 Peters Feb. 26, 1907 May Feb.. 15, 1910 Hudry Feb. 25, 1913 Neils Jan. 5, 1932 Goldstein Apr. 18, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Australia Oct. 17, 1933 France Oct. 30, 1907 Great Britain 1881 

